Milk from U of I dairy key to making top cheese in Good Food Awards

Brian Salmeri is often asked to divulge the secret behind his family’s labneh cheese, which won a national blue ribbon at the recent Good Food Awards.

Salmeri, with Deary-based Brush Creek Creamery, simply credits their access to outstanding milk, as well as a strong partnership with the milk supplier — the University of Idaho Dairy Center located at the main campus in Moscow.

“You have to start out with a good base, and a good base is good milk,” Salmeri said.

Labneh is a tangy, creamy cheese made by straining the whey from yogurt; the cheese is ideal for spreading and is popular in Middle Eastern cuisine. Brush Creak’s labneh emerged victorious from a field of 1,200 cheeses to receive a top prize on June 28 in New York at the Good Food Awards, which are often described as the Oscars of the food and beverage industry. They’re now allowed to display the coveted Good Food Awards winner seal on product packaging.

Throughout the years, Brush Creek’s labneh has also won 12 American Cheese Society gold medals, including two that were awarded on July 8, and 15 Intermountain Milk Producers Association awards, including grand champion.

“The taste just explodes in your mouth, hitting all of your taste buds simultaneously,” Salmeri said.

Brush Creek buys about 357,000 pounds of milk per year from the U of I dairy, producing 40,000 pounds of a variety of cheeses including types of blue cheese, brie, feta, cheddar, smoked gouda, Labneh and Havarti.

Many cheesemakers around the world add component parts, such as supplemental fat or protein, to their milk supply to achieve their desired specifications. Salmeri, however, believes Brush Creek gets the best results from an unadulterated milk supply, and U of I has gone to great lengths to accommodate the business.

For example, when the creamery needed to boost its butterfat levels, U of I added Jersey cows, known for producing milk with high fat content, to the herd.

“They’re providing exactly what I need,” Salmeri said. “I’ve been working with U of I for eight years now, and it’s an amazing partnership. I would not exist without them.”

The U of I dairy operated by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has 86 milking cows, 74 heifers and 20 calves — including Holsteins, Jerseys and crosses of both breeds. The dairy is primarily a research and teaching center but also sells about 164,000 pounds of milk per month to Brush Creek, Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe at Washington State University and Darigold.

“We’ve been getting quite a few calls from a lot of different people about the Good Food Award, congratulating the dairy and the hard work all of our students have been doing,” Dairy Manager Alyssa Murillo said.

The dairy employs a staff of seven students and a full-time milker and parlor manager, who emphasize maintaining fresh bedding, clean facilities and optimal animal nutrition. The dairy is known for producing milk with exceedingly low somatic cell count — a measurement of white blood cells in milk that tends to elevate as animal health declines.

“We just love these animals,” Murillo said. “They all have names, we treat them like our own, and we know that happy cows make great milk.”

Salmeri’s wife, Rebeccah, began making cheese 25 years ago in her kitchen to use excess milk from her family’s dairy farm. Her father, Kevin Durkin, hired a French cheese consultant to teach her the craft. In 2012, she expanded into a century-old, 8,200-square-foot brick building she renovated into a creamery, working with her childhood friend Lisa French. The Salmeris’ friends Dawn Stevenson and Hannah Gentry have taken over as the primary Brush Creek cheesemakers.

Other family friends, Matthew and Avery Brandstadt, began making cheese in 2023, which they sell at a sandwich and coffee shop based in an old ranch and gristmill in Greycliff, Montana. The sister companies share recipes, and Brush Creek cheese is aged in the Brandstadts’ climate-controlled caves in Greycliff, a process that takes anywhere from 60 days to five years, depending on the variety.

Brush Creek cheeses are available at several locations including Greycliff Mill, Pilgrim’s Market in Coeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene Resort, high-end resorts in Spokane, Washington, the Moscow Food Co-op and local farmers markets. It’s also sold through distributors in California.